Board mounted right angle connectors of the type having contact leads that interferingly engage plated through holes in a circuit board, typically are assembled to the board by means of special tooling. The connector is positioned so that its contact leads are in alignment with their respective holes and the tooling is positioned so that it is in abutting engagement with shoulders or other abutting surfaces of the contacts. The tooling is then made to move toward the surface of the circuit board, forcing the contact leads into the holes until the connector is fully seated against the board. Such a connector and tooling arrangement is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,550,962, which issued Nov. 5, 1985 to Czeschka. The '962 patent teaches a connector having a two part housing and contact leads that exit the rear of the first part of the connector's housing and bend at a right angle toward the circuit board. Each contact lead has two abutting ears that extend from opposite sides thereof and a tail that is an interference fit with its respective hole in the circuit board. The insertion tooling has abutting surfaces that engage the ears of each contact lead and force their tails into their respective holes. A second part of the housing is then attached to the connector to cover the exposed leads. This connector has the disadvantage of having a separate cover housing that must be assembled by the user and requires specialized tooling to effect the insertion. Another connector having a two part housing that does not require specialized tooling is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,252,080 which issued Oct. 12, 1993 to Pesson. The '080 patent teaches a first connector housing having contact leads extending therefrom that are bent to a right angle and terminate in tails that are an interference fit with their respective circuit board holes. A second connector housing having channels therein that closely conform to the outer shape of the leads is attached to the first housing with the leads in their respective channels. The tails of the connector are inserted into the circuit board holes by means of a flat surface tool that engages a top surface of the second housing, forcing it toward the circuit board. The channels of the second housing back up the leads so that the tails are forced into their respective holes. This connector utilizes a two part housing that must be assembled after the contacts are inserted into cavities in one of the parts, which adds to the cost of manufacturing the connector. Another connector of interest utilizes a two part housing and is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,199,886 which issued Apr. 6, 1993 to Patterson. The bodies of the connector contacts are vertically disposed, with respect to the direction of insertion of the contact leads, that is, the width of the contact from one edge to the other edge is arranged vertically within the housing. Since the contacts are arranged on their edges within the housing, the overall height of the housing is directly related to the edge to edge width of the contacts. When dealing with contacts that must carry power, this edge to edge width is substantial, therefore, the height of the connector is substantially increased.
What is needed is a connector having a one piece housing wherein the contacts are arranged with their bodies horizontal to minimize connector height and which can easily be assembled to a circuit board without specialized tooling.